Chapter 21: Experiment

Qingyun landed lightly back on the ground and steadied herself. Looking at the utter mess before her, at the little pool whose water level had dropped by nearly half, and at the white steam in the air that had not yet fully dispersed, the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted into a faint arc.

The result... was not bad at all.

“If I can break through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, and my spiritual power becomes several times stronger while my control grows more refined, then one fireball will probably be enough to evaporate this entire pool dry.”

She made the estimate silently in her heart, and her expectations for the increase in her strength became more concrete.

After calming the slightly unsettled flow of breath within her brought on by casting the spell, she shifted her thoughts and summoned the status panel in her mind.

The light screen appeared quietly, and the information upon it was far richer than it had been a month ago:

【Name: Qingyun】

【Bone Age: 14】

【Cultivation Realm: First Level of Qi Refining (early stage)】

【Spirit Root Aptitude: Mutated dual ice-lightning spirit roots】

【Innate Foundation and Comprehension: Outstanding natural talent】

【Cultivation Method: Longevity Art (initiated), Lightness Art (martial art · perfected), Fireball Art (initiated), Cleansing Art (proficient), Wind-Guiding Art (initiated)】

【Special Cultivation Method: First Level of Heavenly Fiend Glazed Body (requirements for cultivation not yet met)】

【Owned Magic Treasure: Longsword “Starfall” (Common Grade sharp weapon)】

【Spirit Source Reserve: 367】

Her gaze swept across the panel, and Qingyun nodded slightly. “Mm, not bad.”

In the span of a single month, she had gone from barely managing to draw qi into her body to formally stepping into the Qi Refining Realm, and she had also mastered several practical spells and one mortal martial art. This progress was a little faster than she had originally expected.

Still, when she saw the entry under 【Owned Magic Treasure】, she paused for a moment.

That longsword which she had named “Starfall” was something she had exchanged from the 【Miscellaneous Oddities】section of the shop a few days ago for 30 Spirit Source.

At the time, its description had only called it “an ordinary iron sword of fine workmanship, sharp and durable.” Yet on the system panel, it had somehow been categorized as a “magic treasure,” and had even been given a rather imposing-sounding name.

But after another thought, she let the matter go.

Perhaps what counted as a “magic treasure” in the system’s judgment did not depend entirely on whether the material itself contained supernatural energy.

A sword forged from ordinary iron, if nourished for years by a cultivator’s spiritual power, or refined through special methods, might not be incapable of undergoing a qualitative change and acquiring certain special might.

The system placing it in that category in advance might simply be based on its future potential to be “refined.” Or perhaps it was merely the system’s own formatted naming for a “weapon belonging to the host.”

“Forget it. There is no point dwelling on it. Right now, it is just a sword that is rather sharp and fits my hand well enough.”

Qingyun shook her head and cast aside that small doubt.

Over the past month, she had taken advantage of the dispensary’s periodic lack of manpower and gone there several more times.

Each time, she carefully selected those herbs of slightly poorer quality that would be less likely to draw attention, then absorbed the faint essence within them. Bit by bit, she had managed to save up more than 1,500 Spirit Source in total.

At first glance, that sounded like a considerable amount, but only when she truly began exchanging for the things she needed did she realize what it meant for money to flow like water.

In order to improve her daily efficiency and deal with possible situations, she had first exchanged for several of the most basic and practical minor spells:

【Cleansing Art】, which allowed her to clean rooms and herself quickly, saving time and effort;

【Wind-Guiding Art】, which could control air currents within a small area, helping with movement, ventilation, or even interfering with an opponent;

and, in addition to these, the 【Fireball Art】she had just tested, which at last gave her a means of ranged attack.

Those three most basic spells alone had already cost her more than a hundred Spirit Source.

After that, she had also taken a liking to a mortal martial art called 【Lightness Art】.

This method was not an immortal spell, but rather something that used a particular breathing technique and way of exerting force to greatly improve the body’s lightness, jumping power, and landing stability.

For her current state, where her cultivation was still meager and she could neither ride the wind nor fly for long, it was the ideal way to make up for her lack of mobility.

The facts proved that those points of Spirit Source had been well spent.

Once she had cultivated 【Lightness Art】to perfection and combined it with the brief supporting force of 【Wind-Guiding Art】, it had produced precisely the startling effect from just now—rising five or six meters from a standing position, and even briefly hovering in the air while adjusting her movements.

In actual combat, this combination would be extremely useful, whether for charging in, dodging, or seizing the high ground.

After exchanging for these, she had also spent Spirit Source on a few bottles of the most basic “Qi-Gathering Pills” suited for use in the early stage of Qi Refining (50 Spirit Source per bottle, two bottles in total), to assist her daily cultivation and speed up the accumulation of spiritual qi.

And then there had been the largest expense of all, the goal she had been keeping in her heart the entire time—

the first level of 【Heavenly Fiend Glazed Body】.

It had cost her a full 500 Spirit Source, nearly one third of the Spirit Source she had possessed at the time.

With a single thought, Qingyun brought forth the first-level manual of 《Heavenly Fiend Glazed Body》into her hand.

It was ancient, weighty, and neither metal nor jade.

She did not immediately return it to the system. Instead, beneath the hazy moonlight, she once more opened it to the cultivation outline after the title page, along with the specific requirements for the first level.

“First level of Heavenly Fiend Glazed Body: Initial Glaze Forging.”

“Prerequisite for cultivation: one’s cultivation must be above the fifth level of Qi Refining, the physical body must first have undergone preliminary tempering by spiritual qi, and the foundation must be stable.”

“Core of cultivation: seek out a strand of natural thunder qi (or an extreme energy of equivalent attribute), draw it into the body, and guide it through the designated meridians to temper the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones.

Assist this with a medicinal bath of Bone-Tempering Decoction, using it externally to resist the thunder fiend while internally stabilizing the foundation source.

Once successful, the skin and flesh will begin to possess the resilience of glazed crystal. Ordinary swords will find it difficult to wound the body, one’s strength will increase greatly, and one will gain preliminary resistance to lightning-attribute damage.”

“Warning: using thunder to temper the body brings extraordinary agony, and carries the risk of the meridians shattering completely and the physical body collapsing. Proceed only with the utmost caution and thorough preparation.”

Qingyun’s gaze remained fixed for a long while upon the two lines that read “one’s cultivation must be above the fifth level of Qi Refining” and “seek out a strand of natural thunder qi.” Her brows unconsciously drew together, and she sucked in a small breath of cold air.

“As expected... even for a body-tempering cultivation method that is said to have a relatively low threshold, the requirement for one’s foundational cultivation is still not low. The fifth level of Qi Refining... I am still very far from that.”

She murmured softly to herself, her tone carrying a trace of complexity that mixed prior expectation with inevitable regret.

The Qi Refining Realm was divided into twelve levels in total. Levels one through four were the early stage, five through eight the middle stage, and nine through twelve the late stage.

The accumulation of spiritual power and the level of control required between each level only increased further and further.

From the first level to the fifth, although it looked like only a difference of four levels, the amount of accumulation and time required was by no means something that could be reached in only a few short months.

What was more, the 《Longevity Art》she cultivated was balanced and moderate, yet slow in progress. She relied chiefly upon medicinal pills and the conversion of Spirit Source after absorption, which meant the consumption of resources was enormous.

And “natural thunder qi” was an even greater problem.

In this world, where there seemed to be no openly active immortal cultivators, where exactly was she supposed to find stable and controllable “thunder qi”? Did that mean waiting for a storm and going out into the wilderness to be struck by lightning?

How was that any different from suicide?

Even though the system had stated that her lightning spirit root gave her an advantage in this, and that it could transform and ease part of the energy, with her current frail body at only the first level of Qi Refining, facing heavenly lightning directly would undoubtedly mean ten deaths and no survival.